VOLUNTEERS
Maura Campbell, voluntary service specialist at the VA St. Louis Health Care System, received The Beryl Institute’s Volunteer Professionals Award for Excellence for her work implementing VA’s Compassionate Contact Corps.
VOLUNTEERS FOR VETERANS The Center for Development and Civic Engagement (CDCE) builds on a century-and-a-half of service.
By the middle of 2020, as the lockdowns and quarantines of the COVID-19 pandemic stretched from weeks to months, the lives of American military Veterans had changed dramatically: Many were literally cut off from the services they relied on to stay healthy and engaged in their communities; tens of thousands found themselves having to learn how to use computers and equipment that would help them teleconference with their health care providers. Appointments through the Veterans Health Administration’s Video Connect program increased more than tenfold, from 10,000 to 120,000 appointments a week. But the Veterans didn’t have to adapt to these new realities alone. At the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, South Carolina, for example, students launched a “Bridging the Digital Divide” program, in which they helped Veterans with virtual appointments and other technological challenges. The Fisher House Foundation donated computer tablets, so Veterans
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who couldn’t have visitors in the hospital could still connect with family and friends. In the months before COVID-19 vaccines were authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a new organization was formed out of an existing phone-buddy program: the Compassionate Contact Corps, a group of volunteers who reached out to Veterans, particularly those in rural areas, who were isolated and starved for social interaction. The social support program, consisting of regular telephone or teleconferencing visits between volunteers and Veterans, was popular, and spread quickly from region to region. Senior Corps volunteer support of VA’s Choose Home initiative also proved crucial during the pandemic, as volunteers fanned out across the country to perform tasks – delivering groceries and medicine, or visiting (outside, at a safe distance) – that allowed older Veterans who were at risk of moving into a long-term care facility to remain safe at home.
VA PHOTO
By Craig Collins
